Instantiating resources of an it-service

ABSTRACT

Instantiating a resource of an IT-service includes analyzing a service model of the IT-service where the service model includes a node representing a resource for providing the IT-service. A resource type of the resource being indicated by the node is determined, and a service provider catalog is evaluated to determine a resource manager operable to instantiate the resource and an address of the resource manager. A request is sent to the address of the resource manager for a description of a resource-manager-specific API of the resource manager. Upon receipt of the requested description, at least one abstract method for instantiating the resource is overridden with a resource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specific API, and the resource-manager specific method for instantiating the resource represented by the node is executed.

BACKGROUND

Distributed computing systems are increasingly being utilized to supportbusiness applications and technical applications of various fields.Distributed computing systems comprise a plurality of hardware-and/orsoftware-based resources together providing IT-services to variousclients, e.g. in the field of B2B or B2C services. Distributed computingsystems are employed, for example, in the realm of cloud computingwherein application programs, virtual machines, storage capacity and/orprocessing capacity are provided to a plurality of clients as a service.In some use case scenarios distributed computing systems provideservices to a plurality of clients via a network, e.g. the Internet,whereby the services are based on a plurality of redundant software-and/or hardware resources for ensuring an efficient and reliable serviceprovisioning.

However, the deployment and administration of such a system is anorganizational challenge as the resources may be of a plurality ofdifferent resource types (e.g., application servers, storage media,networked devices, applications, processing units) and may be providedby different manufacturers or software developers (and may thus beaddressable only via a manufacturer-specific/proprietary API).

As a consequence, the operator of a distributed computing systemintending to allocate or re-allocate resource instances to a particularIT-service must provide the module responsible for instantiating and/orallocating a resource to an IT-service with all the details of theproprietary APIs to enable said module to communicate with therespectively used resource manager. Thus, protocols and interfaces of aplurality of different resource managers must be “known” by said modulewhen modeling or building a new IT-service. In other words, the modulefor instantiating and allocating resources and the respectively employedresource managers are tightly coupled to each other, and adding resourcemanagers of a new resource type or employing a different proprietary APIdynamically to an IT-service in operation is not possible.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure a method, system,computer program product and technique for instantiating resources of anIT-service is disclosed. In a further aspect, a method, system, computerprogram product and technique for allocating instantiated resources(also referred herein as ‘resource instances’) to an IT-service isdisclosed. The method includes analyzing a service model having nodesrepresenting resources and being indicative of a resource type whereeach node comprises a generic API providing at least one abstract methodfor instantiating the resource represented by the respective node. Foreach node, the resource type indicated by the node is determined. Aservice provider catalog indicative of a resource manager operable toprovide a resource of a given resource type is evaluated, and an addressof the resource manager is determined. A resource manager is selected,and a request is sent to the address of the selected resource managerfor a description of a resource-manager-specific API of the resourcemanager. The requested description from the selected resource manager isreceived, and the abstract method for instantiating the resource isoverridden by a resource-manager specific method of theresource-manager-specific API. The resource-manager specific method isthen executed to instantiate the resource represented by the node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present application, theobjects and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for instantiating a resource;

FIG. 2 depicts an IT-service management system comprising multipleresource managers and multiple resources;

FIG. 3 illustrates modules of one of the resource managers in greaterdetail;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of resource managers automatically registeringat a service provider catalog;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a service model;

FIG. 6 depicts a service provider catalog implemented as database table;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for allocating resource instances; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of elements of a service model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, system andcomputer program product for instantiating one or more resources of anIT-service, each resource being of one of one or more resource types,and each resource being provided by one of one or more resource managersof an IT-service management system. For example, in some embodiments,the method and technique includes: analyzing, by a management engine, aservice model of the IT-service, the service model comprising nodesrespectively representing one of the resources and respectively beingindicative of a resource type of the represented resource, each of thenodes comprising a generic API, the generic API not being specific toany particular one of the resource managers and providing at least oneabstract method for instantiating the resource represented by therespective node; and for each of the nodes, executing, by the managementengine, at runtime of the IT-service management system: determining theone of the one or more resource types being indicated by the node;evaluating a service provider catalog, the service provider catalogbeing indicative of one or more of the resource managers respectivelybeing operable to provide a resource of a given resource type, fordetermining one or more of the resource managers respectively beingoperable to provide a resource having the determined resource type, andfor determining an address of each of the determined one or moreresource managers; selecting one of the one or more resource managers;sending a request to the address of the selected resource manager, therequest being a request for a description of a resource-manager-specificAPI of the resource manager; receiving the requested description fromthe selected resource manager; overriding the at least one abstractmethod by a resource-manager specific method of theresource-manager-specific API for instantiating the resource, theresource-manager specific method being specified in the receiveddescription; and executing the overridden at least one abstract methodfor instantiating the resource represented by the node.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. Anycombination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized.The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium ora computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage mediummay be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specificexamples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage mediumwould include the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magneticstorage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In thecontext of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be anytangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected cloud computing nodes. It is understood inadvance that although this disclosure may be used in a cloud computingenvironment, implementation of the teachings recited herein are notlimited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of thepresent invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction withany other type of computing environment now known or later developed.Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics and at least three service models and atleast four deployment models. Characteristics are as follows: On-demandself-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity,and measured service. Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

A ‘resource’ as used herein is something that provides a functionalitywhich can be provided, alone or in combination with the functionalitiesof other resources, to one or more client processing devices in the formof a service. A resource may be a hardware component, e.g. a networkcard, a router, a processing unit, a non-transitory storage medium, atransitory storage medium (e.g. a RAM), or the like. A resource can be asoftware component, a collection of audio or video files, an applicationprogram, a web server, an application server, or the like. A resourcecan also be based on a mixture of hardware and software components, e.g.a network device comprising a software- or firmware-based routingfunctionality. A resource may also be a virtual machine.

A ‘resource type’ as used herein specifies a category a particularresource belongs to, wherein said category preferentially does not relyto any particular manufacturer, vendor or distributor of a resource. Forexample, the resource type ‘storage medium’ may cover SATA disks, SASdisks and other storage types, the resource type ‘application server’may cover application servers such as WebSphere, JBoss, GlassFish or thelike. For example and without limitation, a resource type can be one of‘application program’, ‘application server’, ‘disc image’, ‘virtualmachine’, ‘processing unit’, ‘storage medium’, ‘memory’, and the like.

A ‘resource manager’ as used herein is a program module adapted forproviding a resource of a particular resource type. Typically, theresource manager is provided by the vendor, distributor or developer ofa resource in combination with the respectively managed resource.According to some embodiments, the resource manager is an integral partof the resource managed by the resource manager. The expression ‘aresource manager providing a resource’ as used herein shall beunderstood as a resource manager being operable to instantiate saidresource, and to manage said resource by controlling the functionsexecuted by said resource instance and/or by deleting said resourceinstance if required. In case multiple instances can be created from aparticular resource (as may be the case, for example, for applicationprograms or application servers acting as resource), the management ofsaid multiple instance shall also be considered as being subsumed by theexpression ‘managing a resource’.

An ‘IT-service’ or ‘service’ as used herein is a set of one or morefunctions provided by a set of one or more resources. The IT-service maybe provided via a network, e.g. the Internet, to one or more clientcomputers. A service can also be based on a mixture of multipleresources of different types, e.g. a storage medium (1st resource)hosting an application server (2nd resource), the application serverproviding an application program (3rd resource) as a service to one ormore remote client devices. According to embodiments, the IT-Service isprovided by means of a cloud computing environment.

An ‘IT-service management system’ as used herein relates to a dataprocessing system being operable to provide one or more instances of oneor more IT-services to one or more service consumers, e.g. clientcomputers of business partners, end users, licensees or the like. TheIT-service management system may provide some interfaces for requestinga particular IT-service, and may provide some means for adding andremoving resource managers and respective resources to the IT-servicemanagement system, the resources being used for constituting andproviding the IT-service(s).

A ‘management engine’ as used herein is a piece of program logic (e.g.,a piece of firmware, hardware, a program module or application program)of an IT-service management system which is adapted for providing,managing and/or for allocating resources provided by one or moreresource managers of an IT-service management system to one or moreIT-services.

A ‘service model’ or ‘service template’ as used herein is aspecification of one or more resources and their interrelation with eachother, said resources collectively providing an IT-service whosestructure is specified in said service model. In other words, a servicemodel specifies the structure and composition of an IT-service. Eachresource specification in the service model may be annotated with arespective resource type, resource type specific methods and parameters,and with one or more relations of said resource in respect to one ormore other resources. In the service model, the resources may berepresented as nodes of a graph and the relationships between theresources may be represented as edges. According to embodiments, eachnode comprises a generic API, the generic API comprising abstractmethods and parameters depending solely on the resource type and not onany particular resource manager providing resources of said resourcetype. Thus, the service model comprises a generic specification of thenumber, type and interrelation of resources whose instances collectivelyconstitute an IT-service. Said generic specification is based on thegeneric API of the nodes. According to embodiments, the service model isa file, e.g. an XML, file.

A ‘node’ or ‘node template’ as used herein is a section of the servicemodel representing a resource and comprising data to be evaluated by amanagement engine when instantiating said resource. A service model mayfurther comprise ‘group templates’ (i.e., a section of the service modelindicating one or more of the nodes of the service model to belong to anode group). The node group may be annotated with or have otherwiseassigned one or more group rules.

A ‘generic API’ as used herein comprises abstract methods and parametersdepending solely on the resource type and not on any particular resourcemanager providing resources of said resource type. Each node in theservice model representing a resource may be annotated with methods andparameters in accordance with the generic API. According to embodiments,the generic data format is specified in accordance with the TOSCAstandard as specified in http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tosca/.

A ‘parameter’ of a generic API as used herein may refer to an input oroutput parameter of the abstract method of the generic API and/or mayrefer to a ‘property’ or ‘attribute’ of a node representing a resource.

A ‘service provider catalog’ as used herein is a database, e.g. arelational database, file, file directory or the like, having stored alist of resource managers currently belonging to the IT-servicemanagement system and being operable to instantiate and/or manage aresource of a particular resource type. The resource instance catalogmay comprise an address for each of the listed resource managersallowing to send a request for a description of said resource manager'sresource-manager specific API to said address.

A ‘resource instance catalog’ as used herein is a database, e.g. arelational database, file, file directory or the like, having stored alist of resource instances currently existing in the IT-servicemanagement system. The resource instance catalog may in additioncomprise, for each of said instances, an indication of a resource typeof said instance and of one or more parameter values of said instanceand/or of parameter values of a runtime environment currently hostingsaid resource instance.

A ‘resource-manager-specific API’ as used herein comprises concretemethods and parameters provided by a particular resource manager andallowing other programs, e.g. a management engine, to interact with saidresource manager for instantiating and/or managing a resource providedby said resource manager. According to embodiments, theresource-manager-specific API can be accessed via one or moretransmission protocols.

‘Overriding a method’ as used herein relates to the process of replacingan instance of an abstract method of the generic API of a resource by aninstance of a corresponding concrete method of the resource managerspecific API of the resource manager providing said resource. A‘corresponding’ concrete method is a method whose name and inputparameters are mapped to a respective name and parameters of theabstract method. According to embodiments, said mapping is executed bythe management engine dynamically upon evaluating a description of theresource-manager specific API. An overridden method can also return orreceive a subtype of the parameter type returned or received by theoverridden method.

An ‘abstract method’ as used herein is a method that is declared withoutan implementation or with an implementation not being sufficient forexecuting said method's function.

A ‘process model’ as used herein is any specification of thechronological sequence of steps to be executed in order to instantiatean IT-service in accordance with said IT-service's service model. Saidsteps may comprise the instantiation of a resource of a particular type,the calling of an abstract method of a particular resource instance, theevaluation of a conditional expression for selecting one of a pluralityof possible processing branches, or the like. According to embodiments,the service model comprises a process model in addition to the graph ofnodes representing the resources. According to other embodiments, thechronological sequence of steps to be executed for instantiating theservice is inherently specified in the topology of said graph.

A ‘relationship type’ as used herein is a type of relation connectingtwo nodes of a service model (and thus connecting also two resourcesrepresented by the connected nodes). A relationship type can be directedor undirected. According to embodiments, each edge connecting two nodesmay have assigned one or more relation types, wherein one relationshiptype is directed and indicates the chronological order of instantiatingthe resources constituting the IT-service of the service model.

The interoperation of the management engine and a resource manager forinstantiating a resource and/or for managing or deleting theinstantiated resource as used herein implies that the generic API of anode representing a particular resource enables the management engine tocall said generic API's abstract functions for initiating the resourceand/or for controlling or deleting the initiated resource. The fact thatthe respective abstract method was called by the management engine iscommunicated to the resource manager and triggers the execution of stepsenabling the management engine in interoperation with the resourcemanager to execute the corresponding concrete method, thereby overridingthe called abstract method. According to embodiments, the execution ofthe concrete method is triggered by the management engine calling thecorresponding concrete method via the resource-manager specific API.

A ‘transmission protocol’ as used herein is any kind of communicationstandard and/or communication protocol allowing the management engine toexchange data with the resource manager for interoperating with theresource manager for executing the corresponding concrete method of theresource manager specific API.

A ‘rule’ as used herein encompasses any computer-interpretableexpression comprising two parts: the first part comprises one or moreconditions to be evaluated on one or more parameter values. The secondpart of the rule comprises instructions specifying one or more functionsto be executed in dependence on the result of said evaluation.

A ‘load characteristic’ as used herein is a parameter value beingobtained by monitoring an existing resource instance or an IT-servicecomprising said resource instance. A load characteristic may be, forexample, the number of requests submitted to an IT-service or to aresource instance in a given time period. Said number may be given aspercentage value or as a total amount of processing units, memory orstorage space occupied by a resource, network traffic of I/O requests tosaid resource, or the like.

A ‘concerted management of multiple instances of a resource’ as usedherein encompasses any resource management workflow according to whichthe instantiation of a resource and/or the control or deletion of aninstance of said resource depends on the existence of other instances ofsaid resource and/or on some property values (load characteristics,runtime properties being indicative of e.g. the type and location of theruntime environment hosting the resource instance) of said otherinstances or runtime environment hosting said other instances.

A ‘runtime environment’ as used herein can be hardware- or softwarebased. A runtime environment may be, for example, a virtual machine, anapplication server or a server computer. The runtime environment may berepresented as a node in the service model, said node being connected toanother node representing a resource hosted in said runtime environment.Said two nodes may be connected to each other in the service model by anedge belonging to a ‘hosted-on’ relationship type.

FIG. 1 depicts a computer implemented method according to an embodimentof the invention. Said method may be executed e.g. by a managementengine (ME) 209 of a distributed computer system as depicted in FIG. 2.In the following description of FIG. 1, reference will also be made toelements of the computer system depicted in FIG. 2. In step 101, aservice model 211 is analyzed and one of the nodes in the service modelis selected as current node in step 102. Each of the nodes represents aresource R01-R11 of an IT-service management system 200. For theselected current node, the steps 103-109 are executed. In step 103, aresource type of the resource represented by the current node isdetermined. In step 104, a service provider catalog 210 is evaluated inorder to determine one or more of the resource managers respectivelybeing operable to instantiate a resource of the determined resourcetype. In addition, an address of each of the determined resourcemanagers is determined by evaluating the service provider catalog. Oneof the one or more resource managers having been determined in step 104is selected in step 105. In step 106, a request is sent to the addressof the selected resource manager in order to receive the description ofa resource-manager-specific API of the selected resource manager. The MEreceives, in response to the request, the requested description in step107 from the selected resource manager. In step 108, at least oneabstract ‘create’ method for instantiating a resource of the determinedresource type is overwritten by a corresponding concrete ‘create’ methodof the resource-manager-specific API of the selected resource manager.The concrete implementation of the abstract method is specified in thedescription having been received in step 107 by the ME. By executing theoverridden at least one abstract method by the ME in interoperation withthe selected resource manager, the resource represented by the currentnode is instantiated in step 109. Steps 102-109 are repeated until allnodes in the service module have been selected as current nodes and thecorresponding resources have been instantiated.

FIG. 2 depicts an IT-service management system 200 comprising multiplecomputer systems 201-206 connected to each other via a network 246. Thenetwork may be, for example, the Internet or an intranet. A managementengine computer system 201 comprises a processor 207, memory 208 and astorage medium 215. The storage medium comprises computer-readableinstructions which, when executed by the processor 207, cause theprovision of a management engine 209 (ME). In addition, storage mediumcomprises a service provider catalog 210, a service model 211 and mayaccording to some embodiments, also comprise a resource instance catalog250. A plurality of alternative implementation variants exist accordingto which the service provider catalog, the service model and/or theresource instance catalog may be stored to additional storage mediabeing operatively coupled to the ME 209. One or more server computersystems 205, 206 respectively comprising one or more processors 224, 232and a memory 225, 234 may provide one or more IT-services 227-231 to oneor more client computer systems (not shown), whereby the services arerespectively based on one or more resource instances whose instantiationand/or allocation to the respective IT-services is controlled by the ME209 interoperating with one or more resource managers 214, 219, 222.According to alternative implementation variants, the services may behosted on storage medium 215 of the computer system hosting the ME 209.Computer system 202 comprising a processor 212, memory 213 and storagemedium 216 runs a resource manager 214 being operable to instantiate andmanage a resource RI of a first resource type. Currently, threeinstances RI.01-RI.03 of said resource have been created by the ME 209in interoperation with the resource manager 214. Computer system 203also comprising a processor 217, memory 218 and a storage medium 247 isoperable to instantiate and manage a resource RII of a second resourcetype and a further resource RIII of a third resource type. The secondresource type may be of a single instance resource type while the thirdresource type may be a multiple-instance-resource type. According to thedepicted system state, two instances RIII.01, RIII.02 of the thirdresource type have been created by resource manager 219 and ME 209 ininteroperation. Computer system 204 comprising processor 220, memory 221and storage medium 248 runs a resource manager 222 being operable toinstantiate and manage a resource of a fourth resource type, wherebyaccording to the depicted system state, 5 instances of the 4th resourcetype have been created.

FIG. 2 shows the allocation of various resource instances to therespective services by means of dotted lines. For example, an instanceRI.03 of the first resource RI, an instance RII.01 of the secondresource RII and an instance RIII.01 of the third resource RIIIcollectively constitute IT-service 228. According to otherimplementation variants (not shown), the resource managers 214, 219, 222may run on one or more other computer systems, e.g. on a computer system202, on the computer system 201 hosting the ME 209, or on a computersystem 205, 206 hosting the IT-services. The instantiation of a resourceis respectively accomplished by the ME 209 interoperating with aresource manager 214, 219 222. Correspondingly, executing variousmethods of existing resource instances and the deletion of individualresource instances is also accomplished by the ME in interoperation withthe respective resource manager of the resource instance, whereby saidinteroperation is based on a loose coupling/a binding of ME and resourcemanager at runtime.

FIG. 3 depicts resource manager 214 in greater detail. The resourcemanager comprises an automatic service provider catalog registrationunit 301. Said unit is operable to automatically, upon deploying the newresource manager to the IT-service management system, add a new entry tothe service provider catalog 210, thereby registering the new resourcemanager at the service provider catalog. The new entry comprises, foreach resource type manageable by the resource manager 214, informationon the resource type managed and on an address for binding the resourcemanager. The resource manager comprises a response unit 304 beingoperable to receive a request from the ME 209 and to send, for eachmanageable resource, a description of the methods and parameters 505 ofthe resource manager specific API. In addition, a description of thetransmission protocol is sent to the ME for enabling the ME tointeroperate with the resource manager 214 via the resource managerspecific API 302. The resource manager specific API 302 may exposeseveral concrete methods for creating a resource, and for managing anddestroying instances of said resource.

FIG. 4 depicts two resource managers 401, 402 operable to automaticallyregister, upon deployment to the IT-service management system, at theservice provider catalog 210 via their respective automated serviceprovider catalog registration unit 301.1, 301.2. The resource managers401, 402 respectively expose a resource manager specific API 302.1,302.2. API 302.1 allowing the instantiation and allocation of resourcesto IT-services for providing infrastructure as a service. Said resourcesmay relate to a plurality of different resource types such as VMware,processing power, virtual machines, and the like. API 302.2 allows toinstantiate an allocate resources for providing one or more applicationservers as a service. The ME 209 is operable to update a resourceinstance catalog 250 each time a resource is instantiated and each timea resource instance is destroyed by executing a corresponding ‘create’or ‘destroy’ abstract method of the generic API being overwritten by aconcrete method of the respective resource manager specific APIs 302.1,302.2.

FIG. 5 depicts the service model 211 in greater detail. The servicemodel comprises a graph of nodes 514-523, whereby each node representsone of the resources RI-MV managed by the resource managers 214, 219,222. According to some embodiments, nodes of the graph may becategorized as being member of one or more groups 524. The group 524 ofnodes may have assigned one or more group rules R3, R4. Service model211 comprises a specification 502 of all node types 503, 507representing a resource type necessary for instantiating an IT-service.Each specification of a node type 503 comprises a name 504 of the nodefor mapping the node to a respective resource type, one or moreparameters 505 and one or more methods 506. The parameters and methodsare specified in accordance with the generic API. By mapping theparameters and methods of the generic API to concrete parameters andmethods of a resource-manager-specific API of a selected resourcemanager, the ME is operable to dynamically bind to said resource managerand to exploit its management capabilities for instantiating a requiredresource. Further, the service model comprises a specification 508 ofone or more relation types 509, 512. Each relation type RT-X comprises aspecification of a name 510 of the relation type and one or moreproperties 511 of the relation type. Said relation types may beindicative of the chronological sequence according to which the ME isrequired to instantiate the resources specified in the service modeland/or may be indicative of the roles ‘host’/‘hosted entity’ of theresource instances connected to each other by an edge having assignedthe respective relation type. According to some embodiments, the servicemodel may further comprise a process model 525 being indicative of thechronological sequence to be followed by the ME when instantiating theresources constituting the IT-service. In this case, the topology of thegraph 513 needs not to specify the chronological sequence.

The binding of abstract methods of the generic API at runtime of theIT-service management system to concrete methods of aresource-manager-specific API can be specified e.g. as follows: Theservice model may be defined in the form of an XML document, for exampleaccording to the TOSCA standard. The structure of an IT-service, itstopology, is defined as a TopologyTemplate within the service model(‘ServiceTemplate’). Inside the TopologyTemplate, a graph of nodes,herein referred to as ‘NodeTemplates’ connected via edges(‘RelationshipTemplates’) defines instances of resources of specifictypes (indicated via the ‘nodeType’ attribute of a node) that arerelated to each other via special kinds of relationships (indicated viathe relationshipType attributes of the edges). In the depicted example aVirtualMachine node is connected to a StorageVolume node:

<ServiceTemplate id=“SampleServiceTemplate” ...xmlsns:ex=“http://www.example.com/SampleDefinitions”> <TopologyTemplateid=“SampleTopologyTemplate”> <NodeTemplate id=“VM”nodeType=“ex:VirtualMachine”> <PropertyDefaults> ... </PropertyDefaults></NodeTemplate> <NodeTemplate id=“Storage” nodeType=“ex:StorageVolume”><PropertyDefaults> <ex:StorageVolumeProperties> <ex:Size>40</ex:Size><ex:RaidLevel>6</ex:RaidLevel> ... </ex:StorageVolumeProperties></PropertyDefaults> </NodeTemplate> <RelationshipTemplate id=“rel1”relationshipType=“ex:ConnectsTo”> <SourceElement id=“VM”/><TargetElement id=“Storage”/> </RelationshipTemplate></TopologyTemplate> ... </ServiceTemplate>

Node types and relationship types can define also the properties thatrespective nodes and edges can have. This is done by means of XML schemadefinitions referenced by the Node Type and Relationship Typedefinitions. Nodes and edges in the service model can comprise parametervalues in the PropertyDefaults XML element. The MEs may use saidproperty defaults when instantiating the respective resources. For eachnode (‘NodeTemplate’) a service provider catalog is evaluated fordetermining resource managers that support the respective node type asindicated by the node type attribute of the Node Template. Then, oneresource manager is selected from the list returned from the serviceprovider catalog and an address for the selected resource manager isobtained. In response to a request to said address, a description of theNode Type, including concrete descriptions of operations for that NodeType are received. The ME evaluates the returned description to find outthe resource manager specific, concrete method for said abstract methodand to construct a call for instantiating the resource to the resourcemanager specific API. An example of a definition of a Node Type beingenriched with information on the concrete “Create” method as specifiedin the received description is given below:

<NodeType id=“VirtualMachine”> <Interface> <Operation name=“Create”><REST method=“POST” abs_path=“http://10.10.10.123:9080/VirtualMachine”><Parameters> <Parameter name=“num_cpu” required=“yes”> <Sourceref=“ex:VirtualMachineProperties/NumCpus”/> </Parameter> <Parametername=“mem” required=“yes”> <Sourceref=“ex:VirtualMachineProperties/MemorySize”/> </Parameter></Parameters> </REST> </Operation> </Interface> </NodeType>

The XML snippet above shows how the abstract “Create” operation has tobe invoked for the specific selected resources manager via a RESTinterface by sending an HTTP POST call to the URL indicated via theabs_path attribute of the REST element.

FIG. 6 depicts a service provider catalog 210 according to an embodimentof the invention. The service provider catalog may be implemented as atable in a relational database comprising multiple columns for theresource managers name 601, the resource type 602 and an address of theresource manager, the address enabling the ME to request the descriptionof the resource-manager specific API. Upon adding a new resource managerto the IT-service management system 200, a (‘database entry’) is addedto the table. For example, upon adding a resource manager for theWebsphere application server to the IT-service management system, a newentry is added to the database table comprising, for example, an IPaddress of the server hosting the new resource manager.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for allocating resource instances toan IT-service. In step 701 the ME analyzes a service model. The servicemodel comprises a plurality of nodes respectively representing aresource of an IT-service whose structure is specified by the servicemodel. In step 702, a current one of the nodes is selected fordetermining, in step 703, the resource type of the resource representedby said current node. In step 704, one or more resource management rulesassigned to said node are determined. The assignment of rules to saidnode may be specified directly, e.g. as an annotation to said node, orindirectly, by an annotation of a node group comprising the currentnode, whereby said node group is assigned with one or more group rules.The determined rules are evaluated in step 705 by the ME on a resourceinstance catalog and the determined resource type for computingselection criteria. In step 706, the selection criteria are applied on aservice provider catalog for selecting one of the one or more resourcemanagers listed in said service provider catalog as being operable toprovide a resource of the required resource type. In step 707, aninstance of the resource is created by the ME interoperating with theselected resource manager. In step 708, the instantiated resourcesallocated to the IT-service. Steps 702-708 may be repeated until allnodes in the service model have been evaluated and the instantiation ofthe IT-service has been completed.

According to embodiments, an instance of a resource may be createdautomatically in case the load characteristic exceeded a threshold.Alternatively, the instantiation of a new IT-service by the managementsystem may trigger the instantiation of one or more resources. A newIT-service may be instantiated e.g. upon deploying a new service modelto the IT-service management system, e.g. by deploying the service modelto the management system 200. The ME may check if the current node is amulti-instance node. If so, the ME may further determine ifmulti-instance rules, e.g. anti-collocation or collocation rules, areassigned to the current node. If this is not the case, other managementrules assigned to said node may be evaluated on the resource instancecatalog, if applicable. If a MIR-rule, e.g. an anti-collocation rule orcollocation rule is assigned, the ME checks if an entry for a resourceinstance of the RT-X resource type of the current node already existsaccording to the resource instance catalog. If this is not the case,selection criteria are calculated according to which anyone of theresource managers providing a resource of type RT-X can be selected. If,however, at least one instance of said resource is determined to exist,the ME calculates selection criteria according to which the resourcemanager having already provided said existing RT-X resource instance(s)instance must be selected. After having instantiated a resource, the MEupdates the resource instance catalog.

FIG. 8 depicts components of a service model comprising 5 nodes N1-N5respectively representing one or more resource instances connected toeach other in accordance with edges of different relationship types(‘connected to’, ‘hosted on’, ‘archived on’). One instance of a resourcerepresented by node N1, e.g. an application program, may be hosted by onone or more (n) Application Servers respectively being an instance ofresource of node N2. Each instance of resource of node N1 may beconnected to an instance of the resource (a database) represented bynode N3. Said database may be hosted in 0, . . . , m instances of a DBMSServer, the DBMS server being represented by resource N4, n and m beingintegers larger than 0. Said DBMS server is archived on an instance of anode N5 representing an archive server resource. Nodes N4 and N5constitute a group G1 of nodes having assigned group rules R3 and R4, R3and R4 being applicable on all instances of the nodes N4 and N5 whoserepresented resource instances collectively provide for a “Data Server”.

In one aspect, the invention relates to a computer-implemented methodfor instantiating one or more resources of an IT-service. Each resourceis of one of one or more resource types. Each resource is provided byone of one or more resource managers of an IT-service management system.The method comprises: analyzing, by a management engine, a service modelof said IT-service, the service model comprising nodes respectivelyrepresenting one of the resources and respectively being indicative of aresource type of said represented resource, each of the nodes comprisinga generic API, the generic API not being specific to any particular oneof the resource managers and providing at least one abstract method forinstantiating the resource represented by the respective node; and foreach of the nodes, executing, by the management engine, at runtime ofthe IT-service management system: determining the one of the one or moreresource types being indicated by said node; evaluating a serviceprovider catalog, the service provider catalog being indicative of oneor more of the resource managers respectively being operable to providea resource of a given resource type, for determining one or more of theresource managers respectively being operable to provide a resourcehaving the determined resource type, and for determining an address ofeach of said determined one or more resource managers; selecting one ofthe one or more resource managers; sending a request to the address ofthe selected resource manager, the request being a request for adescription of a resource-manager-specific API of said resource manager;receiving the requested description from the selected resource manager;overriding said at least one abstract method by a resource-managerspecific method of the resource-manager-specific API for instantiatingsaid resource, said resource-manager specific method being specified inthe received description; and executing the overridden at least oneabstract method for instantiating the resource represented by said node.

Embodiments of the present disclosure enable translation of the abstractmethods of the generic API at runtime of the IT-service managementsystems into concrete methods of the respectively used resource manager.Thus, it is also possible to dynamically select the resource manager tobe used for instantiating the resources for instantiating the IT-serviceat runtime of the IT-service management system. Thus, a high degree offlexibility is provided, as the management engine and the plurality ofresource managers are only loosely coupled. Exchanging a particularresource manager thus does not require amending the service model as theservice model comprises only a generic API. If, for example, a firstresource manager provided by a first vendor and having a firstproprietary API is replaced by a second resource manager provided byanother vendor and having a second proprietary API for instantiating thesame resource type as provided by the first resource manager, no changesneed to be introduced in the service model. In case the servicemanagement system comprises multiple different resource managersproviding the same type of resource, it is possible to dynamicallydecide which one of the resource managers shall be used forinstantiating a respective resource. For example, if both a first and asecond resource manager respectively provide for a resource type‘application server’, the first resource manager providing JBossapplicaton servers while the second resource manager provides WebSphereapplication servers, it is possible to decide at runtime of theIT-service management system (e.g., based on current loadcharacteristics), which of the resource managers to select forinstantiating a resource. Thus, embodiments of the invention provide fora highly generic, flexible IT-service management system and methodallowing decoupling the management engine from any proprietary API ofthe respective resource managers, thereby easing the operability andmaintainability of the IT-service management system.

According to some embodiments, the selection of the one resource may beimplemented by management rules being operable to evaluate, at runtimeof the IT-service management system, some parameter values fordetermining which one of the resource managers operable to instantiatethe requested resource should be selected. Said parameter values mayindicate a current load characteristic of a resource manager, apredefined preference for a particular resource manager, the existenceof one or more other resource instances provided by a particularresource manager, or the like.

According to some embodiments, the nodes are nodes of a graph. Analyzingthe service model comprises traversing the graph for instantiating theresources represented by said graph's nodes in accordance with thetopology of said graph. According to some embodiments, the traversal isstarted at the leaf nodes. Said features are advantageous, as a servicemay be specified by means of said service model in a completely genericmanner. In case a new resource manager is added to the IT-servicemanagement system or replaces another resource manager providing thesame resource type, the service model does not have to be amended as itdoes not comprise any elements of a resource manager specific API. Inaddition, representing the resources as nodes of a graph allowsspecifying one or more relationships types connecting two resources,e.g. a relationship type indicating that one resource needs to beinstantiated before another. For example, at first an application serverresource needs to be instantiated before an application program to bedeployed in said application server and acting as a resource of type‘application program’ can be instantiated.

According to some embodiments, the service model is indicative of achronological sequence of the resources to be instantiated. Saidsequence is specified by means of a topology of a graph comprising thenodes or being specified by means of a process model contained in theservice model. Said features are advantageous as the management enginetraversing the graph in accordance with the topology of the graph mayautomatically retrieve the nodes in the order the respective resourcesrepresented by said nodes need to be instantiated.

According to some embodiments, the nodes of each pair of connected nodesof the graph are connected to each other by means of one or more edges.Each edge represents one of one or more relationship types. At least onerelationship type ‘depends-on’ represents a dependency between a firstresource represented by a source node and a second resource representedby a destination node. The first resource represented (e.g., by a leafnode) needs to be instantiated before the second resource in case thesecond resource ‘depends on’ the first resource. The edges representingsaid relation type may be directed for providing a directed graphtopology determining the chronological sequence according of theresources to be instantiated. According to some embodiments, at leastsome of the edges represent a further relation type ‘hosted-on’, saidrelation type specifying which one of a pair of resources acts as hostof the other resource. Said kind of relation type may enable themanagement engine to automatically deploy a resource upon itsinstantiation at another resource specified by said relation type as the‘host’.

According to some embodiments, the method further comprises, at runtimeof the IT-service management system: adding a further resource managerto the IT-service management system, the further resource manager beingadapted to provide resources of a further resource type; and as aconsequence of said adding, adding a further entry to the serviceprovider catalog, the further entry being indicative of the furtherresource manager, the further resource type and of an address of thefurther resource manager. The further entry may be added to the serviceprovider catalog fully automatically, manually or semi-automatically.The further resource manager may be added to the IT-service managementsystem (e.g., by deploying a .war file). Said features may beadvantageous as the operator does not have to manually enter the addressof the resource-manager into the service provider catalog for enablingthe management engine to interoperate with the resource manager.According to embodiments the adding of the further entry is executed inaccordance with the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC)technology.

According to some embodiments, the nodes comprise at least a first and asecond node. The first node represents a first resource of a firstresource type. The second node represents a second resource of a secondresource type. The first and second resource types differ from eachother and are respectively selected, in any combination, from a groupcomprising: a data storage resource type for providing data storage as aservice (StaaS), wherein the data storage resource type may cover, forexample, SAAS storage media, SAS storage media, FLASH storage media, andthe like; an application program resource type for providing software asa service (SaaS), wherein the application program resource type maycover any kind of program or software module; an example of a Saasresource is Google Docs and Apple iWork.com; a computing resource typefor providing infrastructure as a service (IaaS), wherein a computingresource type may cover, for example, a ‘Virtual Machine (VM)’, a‘processing unit’, or the like; a networking component resource type forproviding network as a service (NaaS) may cover, for example, a router;and a middleware component resource type for providing platform as aservice (PaaS).

According to some embodiments, instantiating the resource by executingthe at least one abstract method is executed by the management engineinteroperating with the selected resource manager. The interoperation isexecuted via the obtained resource-manager-specific API. Thus, themanagement engine is enabled to make full use of the functionalitiesprovided by the resource manager for instantiating and controlling aresource, but nevertheless the management engine is not tightly coupledto the management engine.

According to some embodiments, the generic API comprises furtherabstract methods for controlling and/or deleting an instance of theresource represented by said node. The method further comprises:overriding said further abstract methods by a respectiveresource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specific API;and executing the overwritten generic API by the management engine,whereby the management engine interoperates with the selected resourcemanager, wherein the interoperation is executed for controlling and/ordeleting said instance. The interoperation may comprise calling theresource-manager specific method via the resource-manager specific APIin accordance with the description.

According to some embodiments, the description received from one of theresource managers comprises one or more concrete methods forrespectively overriding an abstract method of the generic API andcomprises a specification of one or more transmission protocols whichcan be dynamically chosen and used by the management engine forinteracting with said one resource manager.

According to some embodiments, the method further comprises: evaluating,by the management engine, the received description for determining adata transmission protocol to be used by the management engine forinteroperating with the determined resource manager; and/or determiningone or more API methods and API parameters to be used by the managementengine for interoperating with the determined resource manager. Theinteroperation is executed by the determined transmission protocoland/or by the determined API methods and API parameters. Said featuresmay be advantageous as the transmission protocol, e.g. remote procedurecalls or the like, may be determined dynamically upon selection of theresource manager. Thus, the management engine and the resource managersdo not have to “agree upon” a particular, predefined and hard-wiredtransmission protocol, but may chose an appropriate transmissionprotocol dynamically in dependence on the selected resource manager/thereceived description of the resource manager specific API. Bydetermining the resource manager specific API dynamically via thedescription, the management engine is enabled to directly call theconcrete methods of the resource manager specific API. According to someembodiments, the resource manager specific API comprises more concretemethods than abstract methods exist in the service model for therespective resource type, but only those concrete methods which weresuccessfully mapped to a corresponding generic method can be executed bythe management engine.

According to some embodiments, the evaluation is executed at runtime ofthe data management system for dynamically determining the transmissionprotocol to be used by the management engine for interacting with theresource manager. Thus, the abstract method is not invariantly bound toa particular transmission protocol, i.e., is not bound to any REST,SOAP, RPC protocol etc. The binding of any abstract method of thegeneric API is executed dynamically after having selected a concreteresource manager for instantiating the requested resource type. Saidloose, dynamic binding of the transmission protocol may greatlyincreases the flexibility of the system.

According to some embodiments, an IT-service management system comprisesat least a first and a second resource manager. The first resourcemanager comprises a first resource-manager specific API and is operableto provide a first resource of a first resource type. The secondresource manager comprises a second resource-manager specific API and isoperable to provide a second resource of a second resource type. Themethod further comprises: instantiating at least the first resource viathe first resource manager specific API by a first set of API methodsand API parameters and/or by a first data transmission protocol; andinstantiating at least the second resource via the second resourcemanager specific API by a second set of API methods and API parametersand/or by a second data transmission protocol.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer readablestorage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to execute the computer-implementedmethod according to any one of the presently disclosed embodiments.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer implementedmethod for instantiating a resource. The computer system comprises aresource manager being adapted for: upon deployment of a resourcemanager to an IT-service management system, adding an entry to a serviceprovider catalog of the IT-service management system, the further entrybeing indicative of the resource manager, of a resource type provided bysaid resource manager, and of an address of the resource manager, wheresaid adding may be executed fully automatically, manually orsemi-automatically; upon receipt of a request from a management engineof the IT-service management system, sending a description of a resourcemanager-specific API to the requesting management engine, the resourcemanager-specific API comprising at least one resource-manager specificmethod for instantiating said resource, wherein the entry enables themanagement engine having access to the service provider catalog to send,at runtime of the data processing system, the request to the address ofthe resource manager; and for interoperating with the management engineby means of the resource manager-specific API for instantiating theresource. Said features may be advantageous as the further resourcemanager may automatically or user-interactively register itself at theservice provider catalog. Thus, any delays and errors caused by a manualentry of the further resource manager's address is prevented and anIT-service management system is provided allowing to use any of theresource managers as dynamically removable and/or addable plug-inmodules of the IT-service management system. The resource manager may beadapted for receiving the request from the management engine and forsending, in response to the request, a description of itsresource-manager-specific API.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer systemcomprising a management engine for instantiating one or more resourcesof an IT-service. Each resource is of one of one or more resource types.Each resource is provided by one of one or more resource managers of theIT-service management system. The management engine is adapted for:analyzing a service model of said IT-service, the service modelcomprising nodes respectively representing one of the resources andrespectively being indicative of a resource type of said representedresource, each of the nodes comprising a generic API, the generic APInot being specific to any particular one of the resource managers andproviding at least one abstract method for instantiating the resourcerepresented by the respective node; and for each of the nodes,executing, at runtime of the IT-service management system: determiningthe one of the one or more resource types being indicated by said node;evaluating a service provider catalog, the service provider catalogbeing indicative of one or more of the resource managers respectivelybeing operable to provide a resource of a given resource type, fordetermining one or more of the resource managers respectively beingoperable to provide a resource having the determined resource type, andfor determining an address of each of said determined one or moreresource managers; selecting one of the one or more resource managers;sending a request to the address of the selected resource manager, therequest being a request for a description of a resource-manager-specificAPI of said resource manager; receiving the requested description fromthe selected resource manager; overriding said at least one abstractmethod by a resource-manager specific method of theresource-manager-specific API for instantiating said resource, saidresource-manager specific method being specified in the receiveddescription; and executing the overridden at least one abstract methodfor instantiating the resource represented by said node.

According to some embodiments, the computer system further comprises theone or more resource managers, the service provider catalog, and amechanism (e.g., a management engine) for adding, upon deployment of afurther resource manager to the IT-service management system, a furtherentry to the service provider catalog, whereby said adding may beexecuted automatically, manually (e.g. by an operator of the system) orsemi-automatically. The further entry is indicative of the furtherresource manager, the resource type provided by said further resourcemanager, and an address of said further resource manager. The furtherentry enables the management engine having access to the serviceprovider catalog to send, at runtime of the IT-service managementsystem, the request to the further resource manager.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer systemcomprising a resource manager being adapted to execute a method asdescribed above in respect to embodiments of the invention relating tothe resource manager. According to some embodiments, the resourcemanager specific API is further used by the management engine formanaging and deleting resource instances in interoperation with theresource manager. According to some embodiments, the IT-service isprovided by one resource instance or a plurality of resource instances.In case the IT-service is provided by a plurality of resource instances,said instances may be of the same or of different resource types.

According to some embodiments, the data transmission protocol used by atleast one of the resource managers is a REST web service protocol, aSOAP protocol, a SNMP protocol, a WS-management protocol, or a remoteprocedure interface protocol. Different resource managers of theIT-service management system may respectively employ different datatransmission protocols, and some resource managers may offer two or moredifferent transmission protocols for enabling the management engine tointeract with the resource manager for instantiating and/or managing aresource.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer-implementedmethod for allocating one or more instances of one or more resources toan IT-service. Each resource is of one of one or more resource types.Each resource instance is provided by one of one or more resourcemanagers of an IT-service management system. The method comprises:analyzing, by a management engine, a service model, the service modelspecifying the structure of an IT-service and comprising nodesrespectively representing one of the resources and respectively beingindicative of a resource type of said represented resource, the servicemodel further comprising, for at least one of the nodes, one or moreresource management rules specifying the management of said resourcerepresented by said node; and for each of the nodes, executing, by themanagement engine, at runtime of the IT-service management system:determining the resource type indicated by said node; determining one ormore resource management rules assigned to said node; evaluating theresource management rules assigned to said node on a resource instancecatalog and the determined resource type, wherein the resource instancecatalog is indicative of all currently existing instances of the one ormore resources and their respective allocation to said IT-service forcomputing selection criteria; applying the selection criteria on aservice provider catalog for selecting one of the one or more resourcemanagers, the service provider catalog being indicative of one or moreof the resource managers respectively being operable to provide aresource instance of a given resource type to the IT-service; creatingan instance of the resource provided by the selected resource manager;and allocating said instance to the IT-service. Said features may beadvantageous, as by evaluating a resource instance catalog beingindicative of the number and type of currently instantiated resourcesfor determining which kind of resource manager to choose forinstantiating a new resource instance it is possible to dynamicallyadapt the resource instantiation procedure to dynamically determinedruntime parameter values of the IT-service management system. Saidfeatures may enable to selectively instantiate resources by a resourcemanager having already provided at least one resource of a given type.For example, in many use case scenarios it may be advantageous toinstantiate a node of type ‘application server’ by a resource manageradapted for providing a Web Sphere application server and not by aresource manager adapted for providing a Glassfish web server in case aninstance of the WebSphere application server already exists. Dependingon the embodiments and the used management rules, new resources may beinstantiated in a way that they are collocated (hosted together′) withalready existing resources of a given resource type in the same runtimeenvironment or that they are respectively instantiated in differentruntime environments (anti-collocation). The runtime environment mayalso act as a resource and may be represented in the form of a node inthe service model. Thus, a highly flexible and dynamic IT-servicemanagement system is provided being operable to dynamically select oneresource manager out of a plurality of resource managers forinstantiating a resource in dependence on runtime parameter values ofthe IT-management system, in particular, in dependence on the number,type and/or parameter values of already existing resource instances asindicated in the resource instance repository.

According to some embodiments, the resource instance catalog comprises,for each of the instantiated resources, a load characteristic, the loadcharacteristic being indicative of a processing load of the instantiatedresource. The method further comprises: monitoring, by the managementengine, the load characteristic of each of the one or more resourceinstances allocated to said IT-service; updating, by the managementengine, the load characteristic of said one or more resource instanceswith the monitored load characteristics; upon evaluation of the resourcemanagement rules on the resource instance catalog, executing theevaluation also on the updated load characteristic of said one or moreresource instances. Said features may be advantageous as they may allowincreasing the performance and/or reliability of the IT-service. In caseit is determined that an IT-service or one of its resource instances isrequested/accessed too frequently, e.g. in case the number of requestsper time exceeds a given threshold, an additional instance of saidapplication server and application program may be created as a furthercomponent of the IT-service to reduce the processing load of theIT-service and/or to reduce the processing load one of its resourceinstances.

According to some embodiments, the resource management rules are storedas annotations to nodes or as annotations to groups of nodes in theservice template.

In some embodiments, each of the nodes comprises a generic API. Thegeneric API is not specific to any particular one of the resourcemanagers and provides at least one abstract method for instantiating theresource represented by the respective node. The creation of theinstance of the resource comprises: evaluating, by the managementengine, the service provider catalog for determining an address of theselected resource manager; sending, by the management engine, a requestto the address of the selected resource manager, the request being arequest for a description of a resource-manager-specific API of saidresource manager; receiving, by the management engine, the requesteddescription from the selected resource manager; overriding, by themanagement engine, said at least one abstract method by aresource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specific APIfor instantiating said resource, said resource-manager specific methodbeing specified in the received description; and executing theoverridden at least one abstract method for instantiating the resourcerepresented by said node. Said execution may be performed by themanagement engine in interoperation with the selected resource manager.

According to some embodiments, the nodes are nodes of a graph. Each ofthe nodes is of a single-instance-node type or of a multi-instance nodetype. A multi-instance node represents a resource being instantiablemultiple times. A single-instance node represents a resource beinginstantiable only once. Analyzing the service model comprises traversingthe graph for instantiating the resources represented by said graph'snodes in accordance with the topology of said graph and in accordancewith the node's respective node type. Annotating nodes with amulti-instance or single-instance property may by advantageous as saidfeature may allow for a more fine-grained specification of managementrules and an acceleration of the evaluation. For example, in case a nodeis determined to be a single-instance node, all rules being applicableselectively to multi-instance nodes may be skipped during the evaluationof the management rules, thereby increasing the speed of the evaluation.

According to some embodiments, the management rules comprise a rulebeing adapted to evaluate load characteristics assigned to all existingresource instances of all resources having the resource type indicatedby a currently evaluated node of the service model. In case the loadcharacteristics exceed a threshold value specified in the rule, anadditional node instance may be initiated, whereby additional managementrules may be evaluated for calculating selection criteria for selectingan appropriate resource manager.

According to some embodiments, at least one of the nodes is amulti-instance node. The resource management rules comprisemulti-instance resource (MIR) rules providing for a concerted managementof multiple instances of the resource represented by said node. At leastone of the nodes has assigned one or more MIR rules. The methodcomprises, for each of the nodes: evaluating if the node is amulti-instance node; in case the node is a multi-instance node,evaluating at least the one or more assigned MIR rules on the resourceinstance catalog for determining if other instances of the resourcerepresented by said node already exist; the resource instance catalog isindicative of the existence of said other instances and may optionallyalso be indicative of parameter values of said other existing instances.The selection criteria are computed in dependence on an evaluationresult of the MIR rules.

According to some embodiments, the MIR-rules comprise at least oneanti-collocation rule. The anti-collocation rule specifies that allinstances of a resource collectively providing the IT-service or asub-service of said IT-service must respectively be instantiated indifferent runtime environments. The evaluation of the anti-collocationrule comprises: determining if one or more first resource instancesprovided by one of the resource managers exist and are allocated to theIT-service or a sub-service thereof; and if one or more of saidinstances exists, the computation of the selection criteria returnsselection criteria being adapted to select said determined resourcemanager for creating at least one further instance of the resource ofsaid resource manager in a runtime environment currently not hosting anyof the one or more existing resource instances. If none of saidinstances exists, the resource manager can deploy the new resourceinstance to any of the available runtime environments.

According to some embodiments, the MIR-rules comprise at least onecollocation rule, the collocation rule specifying that all instances ofa resource collectively providing the IT-service or a sub-service ofsaid IT-service must respectively be instantiated in the same runtimeenvironment. The evaluation of the collocation rule comprises:determining if one or more first resource instances provided by one ofthe resource managers exist and are allocated to the IT-service or asub-service thereof; and if one or more of said instances exists, thecomputed selection criteria are adapted to select said determinedresource manager for creating at least one further instance of theresource of said resource manager selectively in a runtime environmentcurrently hosting all said one or more existing resource instances.

According to some embodiments, nodes of a group of two or more of thenodes represent resources whose respective instances collectivelyprovide the IT-service or a sub-service of said IT-service, wherein saidrepresented resources are of the same or a different resource type,wherein the resource management rules comprise group rules providing fora concerted management of the instances of a group of resourcesrepresented by said group of nodes. At least one node group has assignedone or more groups rules. The method comprises, for each of the nodes ofthe service model: determining a group of nodes the currently examinednode is member in; if the group of nodes could be determined,determining one or more group rules assigned to said group of nodes;evaluating at least the determined group rules on the resource instancecatalog for determining if resource instances represented by other onesof the two or more nodes already exist, the resource instance catalogbeing indicative of the existence of said other instances and optionallyalso being indicative of parameter values of said other instances. Theselection criteria are computed in dependence on an evaluation result ofthe group rules.

In some embodiments, one of the group rules is a collocation rulespecifying that all resource instances of resources being represented bymember nodes of said node groups must be instantiated and hosted on thesame resource instance. Thus, in case said collocation rule applies, thefirst instance of any resource of said resource group may beinstantiated by an arbitrary one of the resource managers operable toinstantiate the respective resource type. However, for anysecond/further resource instance of said group, the selection criteriaare calculated in a way ensuring that said resource manager is againused for instantiating the second/further resource instance on the sameresource instance hosting already the first resource instance. Accordingto embodiments one of the group rules is an anti-collocation rule actinganalogously for the node groups comprising mixed resource types asdescribed above for the multi-instance nodes representing instances ofthe same resource type.

According to some embodiments, one of the group rules specify that allinstances of a resource of said group of resources must respectively beinstantiated in a way enabling the resources of said group to fulfillone or more requirements. The requirements may concern the resource tobe instantiated and/or may concern the runtime environment to host theresource instance. The evaluation of the one or more group rulesassigned to said group of nodes results in a determination of selectioncriteria for selecting a resource manager being operable to instantiatea resource in a way that the requirements are fulfilled. Said featuresare advantageous as they allow to specify automatically executableinstantiation and management workflows wherein requirements andconstrains apply not only to individual resource instances or instancesof the same resource but also to multiple instances of resources ofdifferent resource types and/or provided by different resource managers.

According to some embodiments, the group rules comprise ahomogeneous-security-environment rule, said rule comprising therequirement to instantiate all resources represented by nodes of a givennode type in the same security realm, e.g. within a network of serversor within an application server fulfilling a particular securityrequirement. According to some embodiments, said requirements areselected from a group comprising, in any combination: all instances ofresources being member in said group must be instantiated within thesame network security zone; all instances of resources being member insaid group must fulfill one or more security constraints; all instancesof resources being member in said group must be instantiated or hostedwithin a given geographical location; and the runtime environment usedfor hosting the instances of the resources being member in said groupmust meet some security constraints.

Examples of possible network security zones are the Internet(uncontrolled zone) outside the boundaries of an organization, theInternet DMZ (controlled zone) being an Internet-facing controlled zonethat contains components with which clients may directly communicate, aproduction network (restricted zone) supporting functions to whichaccess must be strictly controlled, an Intranet (controlled zone) behindone or more firewalls and management network (secured zone).Geographical constraints may require a resource to be instantiated in aparticular country, e.g. in order to fulfill some legal requirements bythe service provider.

According to some embodiments, the management rules are evaluated forcomputing or re-computing the selection criteria automatically upon anevent being selected from a group comprising: adding of a new resourcemanager to the IT-service management system; instantiating an IT-serviceby the IT-service management system; and upon determining that themonitored load characteristics of one of the resource instances of anIT-service exceed a load threshold. Alternatively, the criteria arecalculated or re-calculated upon a receipt of a manually entered ortriggered command.

According to some embodiments, upon having allocated an instance of anyone of the resources to the IT-service, the management engine updatesthe resource instance catalog by automatically adding an entry beingindicative of an association of the allocated resource instance to thedetermined IT-service.

According to some embodiments, each of the nodes comprises at least anabstract method for creating the resource represented by said node.Instantiating the resource comprises: selecting one of the one or moreresource managers in accordance with the selection criteria; sending arequest to the address of the selected resource manager, the requestbeing a request for a description of a resource-manager-specific API ofsaid resource manager; receiving the requested description from theselected resource manager; overriding said at least one abstract methodby a resource-manager specific method of the resource-manager-specificAPI for instantiating said resource, said resource-manager specificmethod being specified in the received description; and executing theoverridden at least one abstract method for instantiating the resourcerepresented by said node. Said features may allow for a highly flexibleselection of resource managers for creating an additional resourceinstance in dependence on dynamically determined runtime parametervalues of the IT-service management system.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer readablestorage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to execute a method according to any oneof the embodiments of the herein disclosed methods for allocating one ormore instances of one or more resources to an IT-service. In someembodiments, the invention relates to a computer readable storage mediumcomprising program instructions for instantiating a resource, theprogram instructions when executed by a processor provide for a resourcemanager according to any one of the herein disclosed embodiments.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to a computer system forallocating one or more instances of one or more resources to anIT-service. Each resource is of one of one or more resource types. Eachresource instance is provided by one of one or more resource managers ofan IT-service management system. The computer system comprises amanagement engine being adapted for: analyzing a service model, theservice model specifying the structure of an IT-service comprising nodesrespectively representing one of the resources and respectively beingindicative of a resource type of said represented resource, the servicemodel further comprising, for each of the nodes, one or more resourcemanagement rules specifying the management of said node's resource; andfor each of the nodes, executing at runtime of the IT-service managementsystem: determining the resource type indicated by said node;determining one or more resource management rules assigned to said node;evaluating the resource management rules assigned to said node on aresource instance catalog, wherein the resource instance catalog isindicative of all currently existing instances of the one or moreresources and their respective service allocation, the evaluationreturning an evaluation result; computing selection criteria by takingas input the determined resource type and the evaluation result;applying the selection criteria on a service provider catalog forselecting one of the one or more resource managers, the service providercatalog being indicative of one or more of the resource managersrespectively being operable to provide a resource instance of a givenresource type to the IT-service; creating an instance of the resourceprovided by the selected resource manager; and allocating said instanceto the IT-service.

According to some embodiments, the computer system further comprises theone or more resource managers, the service provider catalog, and amechanism (e.g., a management engine) for automatically adding, upondeployment of a further resource manager to the data processing system,a further entry to the service provider catalog. The further entry isindicative of the further resource manager, of the resource typeprovided by said further resource manager, and of said further resourcemanager's provider-specific API. The further entry enables themanagement engine having access to the service provider catalog todetermine, at runtime of the data processing system, that the furtherresource manager is operable to provide a resource of the one resourcetype and enables the management engine to interoperate with the furtherresource manager.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a computer systemcomprising a resource manager for instantiating a resource, the resourcemanager being adapted for: upon deployment of the resource manager to anIT-service management system, automatically adding an entry to a serviceprovider catalog of the IT-service management system, the further entrybeing indicative of the resource manager, of a resource type provided bysaid resource manager, and of an address of the resource manager; uponreceipt of a request from a management engine of the IT-servicemanagement system, sending a description of a resource manager-specificAPI to the requesting management engine, the resource manager-specificAPI comprising at least one resource-manager specific method forinstantiating said resource, wherein the entry enables the managementengine having access to the service provider catalog to send, at runtimeof the data processing system, the request to the address of theresource manager; and for interoperating with the management engine bymeans of the resource manager-specific API for instantiating theresource.

According to embodiments, the method further comprises, at runtime ofthe IT-service management system: adding a further resource manager tothe IT-service management system, the further resource manager beingadapted to provide resources of a further resource type; and as aconsequence of said adding, automatically adding a further entry to theservice provider catalog, the further entry being indicative of thefurther resource manager, the further resource type and of an address ofthe further resource manager.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: analyzing a service modelof an IT-service, the service model including a node representing aresource for providing the IT-service; determining a resource type ofthe resource being indicated by the node; evaluating a service providercatalog to determine a resource manager being operable to instantiatethe resource and an address of the resource manager; sending a requestto the address of the resource manager for a description of aresource-manager-specific API of the resource manager; receiving therequested description from the resource manager; overriding at least oneabstract method for instantiating the resource with a resource-managerspecific method of the resource-manager-specific API, theresource-manager specific method being specified in the receiveddescription; and executing the resource-manager specific method forinstantiating the resource represented by the node.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising adding, upon deployment of a furtherresource manager, an entry to the service provider catalog indicative ofthe further resource manager.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, upon deployment of the resource manager, adding an entry tothe service provider catalog, the entry being indicative of the resourcemanager, the resource type provided by the resource manager, and theaddress of the resource manager.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising, upon receipt of the request, sending the description of theresource manager-specific API from the resource manager to a managementengine.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the node is a node of a graph,and wherein analyzing the service model comprises traversing the graphfor instantiating the resource represented by the graph's node inaccordance with a topology of the graph.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the service model is indicative of a chronological sequence of aplurality of resources to be instantiated, the sequence being specifiedby a topology of a graph.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:evaluating the received description for determining a data transmissionprotocol to be used for interoperating with the resource manager;determining one or more API methods and API parameters to be used forinteroperating with the resource manager; and executing theinteroperation by the determined transmission protocol and/or by thedetermined API methods and API parameters.
 8. A method, comprising:identifying a plurality of resource managers each operable to provide aresource for providing an IT-service; analyzing a service model of theIT-service, the service model comprising nodes representing therespective resources, the nodes specifying a generic API, the genericAPI not being specific to any resource managers and providing at leastone abstract method for instantiating the resource represented by therespective node; selecting one of the nodes; evaluating a serviceprovider catalog and selecting one of the resource managers beingoperable to instantiate the resource as indicated by the selected node;sending a request to the selected resource manager for a description ofa resource-manager-specific API of the resource manager; overriding theabstract method for instantiating the resource with a resource-managerspecific method of the resource-manager-specific API; and executing theresource-manager specific method for instantiating the resourcerepresented by the node.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the nodes arenodes of a graph, and wherein analyzing the service model comprisestraversing the graph for instantiating the resource represented by thegraph's node in accordance with a topology of the graph.
 10. The methodof claim 8, wherein the service model is indicative of a chronologicalsequence of a plurality of resources to be instantiated, the sequencebeing specified by a topology of a graph.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein the management engine is further configured for: evaluating thedescription for determining a data transmission protocol to be used bythe management engine for interoperating with the selected resourcemanager; determining one or more API methods and API parameters to beused by the management engine for interoperating with the selectedresource manager; and wherein the interoperation is executed by thedetermined transmission protocol and/or by the determined API methodsand API parameters.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein each resourcemanager includes a catalog registration unit for adding, upon deploymentof the respective resource manager, an entry to the service providercatalog indicative of the respective resource manager.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the entry is further indicative of the resource typeprovided by the respective resource manager and an address of therespective resource manager.
 14. A method, comprising: upon deploymentof a resource manager operable to instantiate a resource of anIT-service, adding an entry to a service provider catalog of theresource manager, the entry being indicative of the resource manager, aresource type provided by the resource manager, and an address of theresource manager; receiving a request for a description of aresource-manager-specific API of the resource manager; sending, for theresource, the description to a management engine of an IT-servicemanagement system; sending, to the management engine, a description of atransmission protocol for enabling the management engine to interoperatewith the resource manager via the resource-manager-specific API toinstantiate the resource.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein thesending of the description comprises sending at least oneresource-manager specific method for instantiating the resource.